The Trial

It is believed that infamous gangster,Al Capone,is the reason the Touhy gang was arrested and prosecuted for the Hamm kidnapping. There was a known rivalry between Capone and the Touhy gang,because Capone wanted to take over Touhy's alcohol business,but Touhy refused to sell.

(mugshot of Roger Touhy)

On August 12,1933,Roger Touhy,Eddie McFadden,Willie Sharky and Gus Schafer were arrested and charged with the kidnapping of brewery owner,William A.Hamm,Jr..

(Willie Sharky)

(Gus Schafer)

Unfortunately,Melvin Purvis was in-charge of the Hamm kidnapping case.It was later revealed that Purvis knew none of Hamm's prints could be found on Touhy's car - - - the car that was said to have been used during the kidnapping- - -,and that money found on Touhy and the others didn't match any of the ransom money that was given for Hamm's safe return.

Eye witnesses brought in didn't identify any of the three as the kidnappers.

One eye witness,Lucille Otis,claimed that she had seen one of the kidnappers make a phone call from a drugstore payphone.When she was brought in for a lineup that included the Touhy gang,she said:

"I told him [Purvis] that I had looked at all of them long enough and none of them looked like the man I saw.Mr.Purvis kept pointing at one man [Touhy] and asked me,'Are you sure it wasn't him?' I told him,he was most definitely not the man whom I saw making the telephone call.He,Mr.Purvis,became very angry and told me that I would be arrested and jailed,if I didn't cooperate with him."

(Melvin Purvis)

Soon after their arrest,Purvis and other FBI agents took the four to FBI headquarters in Chicago.For one week,the four were only allowed to sleep in twenty minute intervals,afterwards,being woken up to be beaten.Touhy,after the abuse,had lost twenty-five pounds,several of his teeth,and three of his vertebrae in his upper spine were fractured.After everything,neither of the four confessed.

On a side note,when the four were brought to trial,the government's prosecutor,Joseph B.Keenan,tried to have the trial broadcasted,but the motion was denied.

During the trial,Sharky began to show signs that he was "troubled;"he slept through most of the trial,but one time,when he awoke,he stood and stated,"Well,I got to go,"then proceeded to try and walk out of the courtroom.Another time,Sharky stood abruptly and yelled to the Judge,"My hair is full of electricity,I guess that's a sign!"

The Witnesses

The kidnapping victim,Hamm,took the stand for the prosecution,but stated that he couldn't identify any of his captors because he never saw them.

Leo Allison,the taxi driver who was given a note to give to Hamm's family by one of the kidnappers,identified McFadden as the man that had handed him the note,but when he was cross-examined by the defense,he stated he wasn't completely sure the note had been given to him by McFadden.

Clarence Thomas,owner of the drugstore that the ransom phone call had been made at,identified Touhy as the man who had made the phone call,but on cross-examination,he stated that Touhy only resembled the man who had made the phone call.

An unnamed witness who stated that he had seen four men following Hamm in a car the day of the kidnapping,identified all four men as the aformentioned men.After the man testified,Touhy secretly hired a private detective to check out this witness;the detective found out that the witness was at work during the time Hamm was walking home (when he was kidnapped).When the witness was asked why he had lied,he remarked that the FBI had pressured him into doing it.

Edward J.Meany and Vincent Thomas Conner,friends of Touhy's,took the stand for the defense and stated that they had been threatened by Purvis to not testify for the defense.That night,after they had testified,they were both arrested for registering under a false name at a hotel;the name turned out to be that of Touhy's lawyer.

(Edward Meany)

The Verdict

On November 28,1933,the jury acquitted the four men because Hamm could not identify his captors.The very next day,the four were arrested again,but for another kidnapping.

A few days later,Sharky was found hanging in his holding cell by his neck tie.It was ruled a suicide.